


Hideaway

by starrystarrytrouble



Category: Open Heart (Visual Novels)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Boss/Employee Relationship, F/M, Forbidden Love, Romance, Sex, Slow Burn, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:07:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26447542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starrystarrytrouble/pseuds/starrystarrytrouble
Summary: Ethan and MC go back to his apartment after chap 12.Set after the chap 12 scene in the car but before the final scene.
Relationships: Ethan Ramsey/Main Character (Open Heart)
Kudos: 21





	Hideaway

Ethan stood at his window watching the figure sitting on the bench outside his apartment building.

They were almost perfectly symmetrical, she was staring out onto the bay and he was gazing out onto her, both lost in their worlds that magnificently intertwined.

Boston was creeping into winter and she looked cold wearing one of his sweaters, dark hair swept over one shoulder and hands clasped in her lap. He wanted to find her and bring her back into the protection of his apartment but, instinctively, he resisted to give her space. 

When he’d awoken without her next to him, he felt rising panic, a moment of confusion wondering whether the last few days had all been a dream. But almost as if she had predicted his concern, he saw that she’d positioned herself on a park bench by the bay that he could see from his bedroom window.

Now he was by that same window with a mug of coffee, drinking in both her and the glittering bay.

He looked for a clock, the faint glimmer of a hangover pulsing through his head. It was 11am, far, far later than the pre-dawn starts he was used to.

It was a running joke in the Diagnostic’s Team that Ethan was his own alarm clock, never coming in late and never missing his innate ability to wake up at the exact same time every day. At 5am, on tedious night shifts Baz would tell the interns that somewhere in the world, Ethan Ramsey was now awake. It was usually enough to make them work harder.

But whoever discovered the circadian rhythm had never spent three days with Eve Valentine.

After their night in his car, she wanted more of him right away, far more than he could have imagined. They’d spent the last few nights holed up in his apartment, neither had stepped outside, and he couldn’t recall the last time either had been fully dressed. The entire time they were wrapped together, barely talking but connected, either drinking on his balcony or exploring each other, reminding themselves of what they’d missed.

He ran his hands through his hair and remembered her joke that she’d never seen the other rooms in his apartment. Determined to be a generous host, the sheets were now a mess in every one of his guest rooms too.

They’d spent so much time completely immersed in one another that he could still feel her now, wrapped around him, her nails on his back, breath ragged at his chest, the smell of jasmine and vanilla and _her_.

Part of him worried that they were self-medicating on sex.

Now he had her, he needed her even more. He wanted to hold her, trap her under him, run his fingers over all of her and trace her heartbeat, just to know that she was here.

Craving constant contact, he had to be able to reach out and touch her at any time, feel the warmth of her blood vessels, her body glowing red in the daylight, knowing that every cell within her was striving to keep her by his side.

It was only when he was inside her and she moved around him, feeling her so entirely and having such an absolute effect on her body, that he had final confirmation that she was real.

And she reciprocated with an even greater desire for him. Whatever they did, however many times he lay holding her, it was never enough. He was sure she felt the same way, that every time they moved as one, and she threw her head back, eyes pressed tightly shut, that with every involuntary moan she too was remembering that she was alive.

His apartment was a refuge. A space where nothing bad had ever transpired. There were none of the harsh memories of the hospital, of passing a room where she might’ve been treated or rolling through a corridor expecting to see the nurse who would never again be there.

Pressing his palms against the window, he stared out onto the dull Boston skyline.

A sight that had been laced with equal parts comfort and loathing since he’d arrived in the city. Every truly extraordinary event that had ever taken place in his 37 years on this earth had happened in this town.

He’d known Danny and Bobby for years, almost as long as he’d been at Edenbrook. Their relationship was purely professional unsurprisingly, but he quietly respected the two men who were regular fixtures in his day. He wasn’t prepared to burden Eve with this but Danny was one of the few people who’d seen him seen him break down one night last year when he was struggling with the pressure of Naveen’s illness. It was their secret to the last and Ethan felt a pang knowing that now he alone held this memory.

He moved his gaze back over to the quiet figure on the bench. Eve pulled her feet up and was now sitting huddled with her chin on her knees, completely unaware that he was watching her.

In this moment, it was his privilege to have this view.

He played back his words to her in his car after the memorial:

“I can’t deny what I feel any longer. I want you Eve. I’ve always wanted you.”

He could still picture her there, tucked in his arms in the driver’s seat, her green eyes sparkling up at him. For the first time since the attack, she looked _happy_.

If that’s all it took, then he didn’t intend to stop. He’d meant every word and he’d utter them every day over and over if he had to.

Despite everything, he wanted to believe that some good could come of this. That they could both learn to be better doctors, that medicine could be the salvation. For him it always had been, with his mother, with Naveen, every problem was fixed by working harder.

But with her he faced a different barrier. Himself. And now that he had overcome it, now that the dam was truly demolished and was no longer hiding his feelings from himself, he felt lighter. No matter how jaded and cynical he’d believed himself to be, right now, he was utterly free.

He thought about the last moment that sealed his resolve to give in to her fully. It was at the memorial service.

He stood at the back and noticed Eve sitting with Elijah and Jackie. She looked tired, her eyes glassy and distracted and he wanted to speak to her, take her in his arms and check that she was alright but she was out of reach, too far away in the crowd.

Instead, a small brunette came over to him, tentative and sheepish.

She approached him softly, standing by his side and when he turned to her, she gave a small nod.

“Hey, Dr Ramsey.”

He smiled at her warmly and watched her bright eyes, red and puffy, smile back at him.

“You can call me Ethan.”

Sienna looked surprised but nodded.

“Ethan. Do you mind if I stand with you? There are so many old people here, I don’t want to take their seats. Danny was…he made a lot of patients feel better. They really liked him and wanted to pay their respects. I guess you don’t forget a guy like Danny.”

Her voice was small.

“Of course.”

During the service, Eve spoke:

“I still remember sitting out on Boston Common with him and my friends, sharing a picnic as we watched an old movie together.”

He heard a quiet sob coming from next to him. Tears were silently trickling down Sienna’s face.

His mind raced back to the car ride they’d shared to hunt down Travis.

_“Danny and I almost…I always thought maybe…”_

Her words about Danny seemed innocent at the time but now he paired them with Eve’s own words to him in the isolation room.

_“I always thought we should be together.”_

How easy was it for that _always_ to remain a useless hypothetical, to become a _never_ , for people to simply not find out what could be. And here he was, so nearly in Sienna’s position himself, saved by chance and science only.

Life was short, he felt that to his core.

Without a thought, he gently slipped his hand into Sienna’s. Her fingers were cold and he wrapped his own around them and gave a gentle squeeze.

She jumped in surprise but then relaxed, pressing back fiercely, holding onto his hand for support, her grip desperate. As if it was the only thing holding her up.

Ethan brought his mind back to his apartment window and the figure still sitting on the bench.

Truly, he was done pretending.

He never wanted to be that version of himself again.

And there was only one person who could save him.

He pulled on a sweater and pants and walked out the apartment, the door hitting the frame with a slam.

#

Eve felt a hand on the back of her neck as he gave her a gentle kiss on her forehead before sitting down on the bench next to her.

The sun was high in the early winter sky and she welcomed his warmth, huddling into him and leaning her head on his shoulder.

“You weren’t there when I woke up,” he said.

“You looked pretty peaceful, I didn’t want to wake you.”

“I feel at peace when you’re next to me.”

“When you met me, did you ever think you’d be saying that?”

“No.”

He answered so quickly that she couldn’t help but laugh. Her laughter was heartfelt and rich, so genuine that it reminded Ethan that he hadn’t heard it in a while.

“What are you doing sitting out here in the cold?”

“I was thinking about some stuff.”

He nodded in understanding. The wind was icy and he rubbed his hands together involuntarily to stave off the chill.

“Have you thought about when you want to come back to work?”

She quirked an eyebrow.

“I thought we were separating work and us? You know, while I’m in Edenbrook you’re Dr Ramsey the boss but while we’re here you’re my…” she hesitated for a second, “You’re Ethan.”

“If we were adhering to that then you wouldn’t have asked me about working with Mass Kenmore two minutes after climbing off me yesterday.”

“I think you’ve messed up your timelines. I don’t think I can even remember my own name after climbing off you, let alone Mass Kenmore.

Besides, I seem to recall _climbing back on_ pretty quickly again after.”

Ethan shook his head and smirked. When he looked up at her again, his face was etched with concern.

“Either way, I wasn’t asking as your boss, I was asking as Ethan the… _other thing.”_

She suppressed a smile.

“Right, well Ethan _the other thing_. I don’t know. I don’t know anything right now.”

She broke eye contact and looked out onto the horizon.

“It’s okay to be afraid, Eve.”

“Of your pancakes? Definitely. What even were those?”

He smiled softly at her deflection.

“Who knew there was something the great Dr Ramsey can’t do well.”

“If that’s your only complaint from the last few days, then I’m perfectly happy.”

She studied his face. He was worried about her, she knew that from the start, but more and more, with every glance she was starting to recognize something else appearing.

“I have no complaints at all, Ethan. You’ve been great. That’s why I came here, well I mean apart from the obvious,” she looked him up and down with a faint smirk of her own.

“You’re the only one who isn’t treating me like I’m some fragile thing about to break. I know my friends are worried, I get it. But I need people to be normal around me so I can believe things are normal.”

“I understand. But your friends are right to be concerned about you. They thought they’d lost you. I know what that feels like.”

A storm of sadness played out over his face. She remembered snatches of conversations she’d had with her roommates after she was discharged. References to things she didn’t understand, almost as if she’d missed something while she was in that hospital room and everyone else worked together to help her.

“Sienna told me you said some things to her. When I was in that isolation room. She won’t tell me what but she seems to really like you now. Like _really_ like you.”

Ethan smiled but said nothing.

“So…? Are you going to tell me what you said to her?”

“Nothing I haven’t already told you.”

She shook her head, knowing that she wouldn’t get more out of him. Whatever happened while she was fighting for her life, whatever secrets those close to her now shared, it was a small gift that her best friend was at least in equal awe of the man sat next to her.

But at what cost?

Her mind slipped back to Danny and Bobby and nagging guilt that had been clawing away at her for days.

_She was alive because they were not._

The same thought that was interrupting her thoughts hour after hour.

_She survived this time._

_This time._

She thought back to Ethan’s question, knowing he’d press her again for an answer.

“I’m not afraid. I’m…”

But she faltered.

Despite her words, Ethan knew her too well not to see the fear in her eyes as she looked up at him, searching for answers. He wrapped both arms around her and pulled her in close.

“I’m afraid too. Of losing you.”

“You don’t need to be. Trust me Ethan, I’m not going anywhere, especially not now.”

She took his hand into her own, the warmth a pleasant sensation on her cold fingertips.

“I know.”

He looked at their hands laced together and brought them to his lips, smiling gently back at her.

“You’ll get there, Eve. You’ll know when it’s time to come back.”

For days there had been nothing for her to put faith in. She felt lost at sea, abandoned by the world she wholeheartedly trusted and loved, and tired of the medicine she had worshipped that couldn’t save her friends when it really counted.

She was stuck in that isolation room in her mind, no matter where she really was.

Tangled on the bench together, she gazed up at Ethan and saw nothing but warmth and kindness shining back. Every promise he’d made her, from her hospital room to in his car after the memorial, he’d honoured. They’d taken so long to get here, to be this honest, that she’d barely considered how hard it must have been for him.

The alternative scared her too. If nothing had changed, if he’d carried on holding out. What they would’ve missed.

The winter breeze shook her back to herself, tiny slivers of chilled air interrupting the cocoon of warmth they’d created on the park bench.

Eve looked out across the bay. The water dazzled in the low sunlight, vast and beautiful.

After the last few days, something had altered for them forever. It was more than just her attack or recovery. Ethan had changed. And sitting here with him now, she realized that they were more than mere lovers or friends. They were something else entirely, something that straddled both and went far beyond either.

Despite herself, despite everything that happened, she felt alive again at the realization.

Even when there was so little to believe in, there was one certainty.

She believed _him_.


End file.
